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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Arrest of ex-Portsmouth player spotlights soccer as a jihadist recruitment tool

This
weekend’s arrest in France of a former Portsmouth FC youth center back on
suspicion of being a violent jihadist highlights opportunities the beautiful
game offers militant Islamists.

Yann Nsaku was
one of 11 converts to Islam arrested in coordinated raids in several French
cities, including Paris, Cannes and Strasbourg for "suspected Islamic
terrorist plotting of anti-Semitic attacks," according to French police. Police
said the group aimed to spark a “war across France" with the aim of
imposing Islamic law. Mr. Nsaku was detained at his parental home in Cannes.

Mr. Nsaku’s
case echoes the arrest and conviction in Belgium almost a decade ago of Nizar
ben Abdelaziz Trabelsi, a Tunisian who played for Germany’s Fortuna Düsseldorf
and FC Wuppertal on charges of illegal arms possession and being a member of a
private militia. Mr. Trabelsi was sentenced to ten years in prison.

Both cases spotlight
the fact that jihadists often start their journey as members of groups
organized around some sort of action like soccer. So does analysis of a series
of jihadist attacks over the past decade.

The
perpetrators of the 2003 Madrid subway bombings, for example, played soccer
together. Saudi players Tamer al-Thamali, Dayf Allah al-Harithi and Majid Sawat
attended twice a week a militant Quran group alongside their regular soccer
practice. They silently made their way in 2003 to Iraq as the Al Qaeda-led
insurgency in that country gained steam. Messrs Al-Thamali and and Al-Harithi
died as suicide bombers. Mr. Sawat’s father recognized his son when Iraqi
television broadcast his interrogation by authorities.

Several
Palestinian Hamas suicide bombers traced their routes to a mosque-sponsored
soccer team in the conservative West Bank town of Hebron. Israeli intelligence believes Hamas saw the
team as an ideal recruitment pool – a tight-knit group that shared a passion
for soccer, a conservative, religious worldview and deep-seated frustration
with Palestinian impotency in shaking off Israeli occupation.

Men like
assassinated Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh
and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah were both fervent soccer fans and recognized
the game’s useful bonding and recruitment qualities. It brings recruits into
the fold, encourages camaraderie and reinforces militancy among those who have
already joined. The track record of soccer-players-turned suicide bombers
proved their point.

Nonetheless
to Bin Laden as well as more mainstream, non-violent, ultra-conservative
Muslims, the beautiful game also posed a challenge. In a swath of land
stretching from Central Asia to the Atlantic coast of Africa soccer was until
the eruption of popular revolts in the Middle East and North Africa the only
institution that rivaled Islam in creating public spaces to vent pent-up anger
and frustration.

It also
distracted from the performance of religious obligations. During the 2010 World
Cup in South Africa, Saudi Arabia’s religious guardians, afraid that believers
would forget their daily prayers during matches broadcast live on Saudi TV,
rolled out mobile mosques on trucks and prayer mats in front of popular cafes
where men gathered to watch the games.

Mr Nsaku, a
19-year old, 6ft 2ins player, was signed in 1998 by Portsmouth from Cannes FC but
never made it into the troubled 2008 FA Cup winners' first team. His promising career
ended last year when he suffered a knee injury.

Born in the
Congo, Mr. Nsaku returned last year to Cannes in southern France where he is
believed to have converted to Islam and become a believer in its violent
jihadist strand under the influence of 33-year old Jérémie-Louis Sidney, the
suspected leader of a Salfist group who was killed on Saturday in a shoot-out with
French police in Strasbourg. At least three French policemen were injured in
the shoot-out that erupted after Mr. Sidney opened fire.

Several of
the arrested young men were believed to have recently travelled to Syria to
make contact with jihadist fighting the regime of embattled President Bashar
al-Assad. Several had also been convicted in the past on charges of theft and
drugs trafficking.

Police said
that many of the men arrested were Salafis who want a return to a life modeled on
the 7th century period of the Prophet Mohammed and his immediate
successors. They said the men, who were of white
French, North and Central African and West Indian origin from poor-
multi-racial neighbourhoods in France, had made wills and had maintained a list of Jewish targets,
including Jewish associations and institutions
in Paris that they were
planning to attack.

Police said
the men had posted their radical views on Facebook and discussed their plans on
the telephone. Traces of Mr. Sidney’s DNA were found on the handle of a
home-made grenade which was thrown at a Jewish food shop in Sarcelles, near
Paris, on September 19.

Police in
France have been on alert since March when they shot and killed 23-year old
French-Algerian Salafist, Mohammed Merah, after he had killed seven people, including
four Jews in Toulouse and Montauban in southern France. It was not clear
whether the men arrested this weekend were linked to Mr. Merah, who came from a
similar background. The recent arrests, however, idolized him and his killing
spree as the "battle of Toulouse".

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam
School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in
Singapore and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East
Soccer.

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About Me

James M DorseyWelcome to The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer by James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. Soccer in the Middle East and North Africa is played as much on as off the pitch. Stadiums are a symbol of the battle for political freedom; economic opportunity; ethnic, religious and national identity; and gender rights. Alongside the mosque, the stadium was until the Arab revolt erupted in late 2010 the only alternative public space for venting pent-up anger and frustration. It was the training ground in countries like Egypt and Tunisia where militant fans prepared for a day in which their organization and street battle experience would serve them in the showdown with autocratic rulers. Soccer has its own unique thrill – a high-stakes game of cat and mouse between militants and security forces and a struggle for a trophy grander than the FIFA World Cup: the future of a region. This blog explores the role of soccer at a time of transition from autocratic rule to a more open society. It also features James’s daily political comment on the region’s developments. Contact: incoherentblog@gmail.comView my complete profile